Steal The Cipher
by Acastus
Summary: Badly wounded at the end of "Twilight of the Apprentice: Part 3", Ahsoka returns to her friends on Atollon. Unable to come to grips with her feelings for her former master or her actions on Moriband, she tries to ignore both, only to realize too late that, as Vader foretold, for her there can be no escape... first of the "Tales From The Dark Side".
1. The Holocron

**Chapter I: The Holocron**

The door to his quarters shut behind him. He was alone.

After receiving the dreadful news of Kanan's injury and Ahsoka's death, the others had broken up to wander the ship sunk in their own private despair. For once, the _Ghost_ was as silent as its name implied.

The young Jedi sat down heavily on his roommate's bed. He cupped the forbidden artifact in his hands, turning it over and over to observe it from all angles.

He knew what he must do, but he was afraid. He had to open it, but how? The words of the former Sith resounded in his head.

" _One must be a Sith... or think like one."_

He hesitated. The words of Master Yoda quickly followed Maul's.

" _A challenge lifelong it is not to bend fear into anger."_

Using the dark side was wrong. He knew it. He had felt cold and alien when he had used it the first time. He had felt frozen, paralyzed and slightly nauseous when he had first felt Vader.

At the temple, though, he had felt the power of his anger rushing through his consciousness. The thrill was undeniable as was the exhilaration and relief of finally unleashing the vast reservoir of fury and hatred which seethed just beneath his deceptively sunny exterior.

The confusion was terrible. Why did Yoda send him to Moriband if not to find this holocron? If to find it, then for what other reason but to open it?

But opening it meant using the dark side. It was the only way.

He was trapped and he knew it.

Ezra sighed heavily, resigning himself to his fate.

The decision made, he gathered his will and concentrated on the sullen, glowing red pyramid in his hands. The events that took place on Moriband cycled through his mind in an endless, painful cascade.

Slowly, exerting as much control as he could muster, he let his anger, fear and hatred begin to build. Fear that he would lose his new family. Anger at himself for trusting Maul. Hatred for the Empire for taking his mother and father. Hatred for Darth Vader for killing Ahsoka.

Soon he was filled to the brim with emotion that threatened to overwhelm him. The connection to the darkness was easier and more complete each time he made it. To his surprise he found that this very fact produced the most intense fear of all – fear that he would lose himself and be consumed by the dark side, as Yoda had warned.

The holocron's red glare increased as his passion built. Slowly the pyramid rose into the air. Its tips twisted in place and the unit began to unfold…

Then he was gone.

* * *

"Your anger is strong, young Jedi," the female voice observed with approval, "You have potential… if you have the will to seize it."

He was kneeling inside a circle of red light against a backdrop of stars. Ezra looked around him, but saw nothing except the endless expanse of empty space.

This was a vision, much like the one where he had met Master Yoda, yet here he felt no comfort or peace. This place was cold and forsaken. The intense alien presence he felt was hard, unyielding and observed him with cool and unsympathetic eyes.

"Who are you?" Ezra called out, "Where are you?"

The reply seemed to emanate from all around him. It was the same voice he had heard at the altar on Moriband.

"You are not yet strong enough with the dark side to see me, boy."

"Are you… were you a Sith?"

The woman laughed, a cruel, hard sound, but made no other reply.

"Please!" he pleaded urgently, his hands balled into taut fists, "Tell me how to destroy Vader and his Inquisitors! You must know!"

"What makes you think you are worthy of such knowledge?"

Ezra hesitated. He had not considered the possibility of such a challenge. Weren't holocrons just recordings?

"Well, I'm not sure I am, to be honest," he admitted in a confused tone, but continued, his voice becoming ever more intense, "all I can say is I'll do whatever it takes bring them down! I'm going to get more and more powerful until I can kill Vader and…and his emperor!"

The entity considered this.

"Yes… Your hatred for Darth Vader is strong."

"He killed my friend," Ezra admitted sullenly.

"Revenge is a powerful motivator, young one, it can give you focus, but you must learn to free the power within you if hope to gain the strength you will need to destroy the Sith."

"I've come this far," he replied, crossing his arms in front of him, "and I won't stop now!"

"Maybe, boy, but are you truly prepared to do what must be done to achieve your goal?"

"What part of " _whatever it takes_ " don't you understand?" he answered with more bravado than he felt.

He swatted his bangs out of his eyes and crossed his arms petulantly.

The laughter resounded once more.

"I understand more than you could possibly imagine! I'm afraid it is _you_ who does not understand and if you have the strength to follow through on your boast you will soon discover that suffering will be your teacher!"

"I have a teacher!" the boy replied hotly, "and I know all about suffering already!"

The spirit of the holocron paused before continuing in a soft, frigid tone.

"Your master is useless to you now."

"No, he's not!" Ezra protested, "Kanan defeated Maul after he was blinded! He's better now than he ever was before!"

"Is he powerful enough to defeat Darth Vader?" the voice replied in scorn, "Is he powerful enough to defeat Vader's master? Have you even considered this?"

"Well, I…"

Before he could help himself his mind summoned an image of Kanan, blind and stumbling, in desperate combat against the dark lord. He knew without doubt that his master was no match. An instant later he remembered his own brief encounters with the enemy. He had been lucky to escape with his life.

Anger at his own helplessness welled up within him, threatening instantly to decay into despair and anguish.

"You will never defeat him or his master as you are now, young one," the voice continued coldly, echoing his own fears, "and your blind teacher cannot show you how to defeat them because he himself does not know."

Ezra's arms fell back to his sides.

"That's why… that's why I've come to you."

The holocron spirit laughed in triumphant satisfaction.

"Wise you are to seek the knowledge of the Sith!" she exulted, "For only through the power of the dark side can you ever hope to become great enough to destroy your enemies!"

Kanan's padawan stood up and shouted to the cold, starlit universe around him.

"But I don't want to use the dark side! The dark side is evil! I don't want to hurt people for no reason! I just want to protect the people I love! I want to protect all the good people I don't even know! And I want justice for those who have been killed by the Empire! People like my mom and dad!"

His voice echoed into the darkness. The entity waited for it to die off before replying softly.

"Oh, the dark side is evil, mmm? What makes you think using the dark side requires that you destroy without cause? Where is this law written? You have much to learn, young one, about a great many things."

Ezra made to reply, but realized this was an assumption he had made almost without thinking. He shut his mouth with an audible click.

"The dark side of the force is simply a path to power for those that have the strength and determination to seize it. What you _do_ with that power… that is entirely your decision."

The boy hesitated. He hadn't considered this and he could not suppress the sudden surge of hope that swelled within him.

"You mean… you can use the dark side… to do good things? To help people?"

"If you wish," the specter of the holocron replied cryptically, "Without power, child, there can be no justice. Without power you will protect no one, not even yourself. Without the power of the dark side… you will fail."

"No! I will find a way to win! I have to! But…but…" he equivocated, doubt seizing him once again, "Master Yoda said that how a Jedi chooses to win is what's important and I don't know what he meant!"

"Oh, Master Yoda? A powerful Jedi is he?"

"Yes!" Ezra retorted, grasping desperately for a lifeline to the light he felt slipping away with each passing moment, "More powerful than you could _ever_ imagine!"

"Then why did he send you to me?"

He had no answer. That question had tortured him the moment the fog of battle had receded.

"By now you must know, young one, that no Jedi can show you the power you seek!"

Ezra sunk to his knees. He was terrified… terrified the sinister disembodied spirit was right.

"Are you going to tell me how I can beat them or not?" he finally asked once more in a quavering voice.

"I already have, young fool, if you but paid attention!"

"No, you didn't tell me anything, you just told me to use the dark side!"

"Yes, that is the only path to victory."

"But even if I wanted to, you said yourself Kanan can't teach me this stuff anyway, so how does that help? Can you teach me?"

"No, boy, my holocron is no mere instructional device!"

"Then what am I to do!?"

"Find a teacher."

"But who? Vader and his Inquisitors are the ones trying to kill me!"

"The answer is obvious, boy, and if you aren't smart enough to puzzle it out then you are unworthy to claim the knowledge of the Sith."

His agile mind jumped to the conclusion.

"Maul!? But he betrayed us! He tried to kill Kanan! I can't learn from him!"

"Did he betray you?"

"Yes, of course he did! I just said he tried to kill my master!"

"Did he try to kill you?"

"Well… no."

"Did he lie to you?"

Ezra sifted through his memories.

"No… no, he didn't… but he hurt my master!"

"Yes, that _is_ true, but that deed can only be punished once you are powerful enough to deliver justice yourself, is that not so?"

"Yes, but why would he teach me then if he knows I'm going to go after him later? That makes _no_ sense!"

The spirit laughed once more.

"All Sith expect their students to rise up against them. Only those who are unworthy fail to kill their masters once they have learned everything of value from them."

Ezra recoiled, his face twisting in a expression of utter revulsion.

"That's horrible! That's… that's insane! I don't want to be like that! I want no part of this!"

"You have no choice, boy! Search your feelings. The only way forward is through the power of the dark side. You have anger, you have hate and you will use them… whether you want to or not…"

The presence receded.

"Wait! Who are you –,"

The vision ended.


	2. Rude Awakening

_A/N: Relax folks, Ahsoka is coming. Good things come to those who wait._

* * *

 **Chapter II: Rude Awakening**

Ezra opened his eyes. He was lying on the deck. His back and neck ached. Spittle had run down his open mouth and collected in a small pool on the floor. The holocron lay a few inches from his outstretched hand where it had apparently fallen. The sinister object had assumed its original shape and glowed dully.

The door opened and a mischievous, beeping trash can zoomed into the chamber. It chittered excitedly at the young Jedi.

"What do you _wannnt_ , Chop?" Ezra groaned, wiping the side of his mouth before putting a hand to the side of his head and forcing himself to sit up.

The chittering continued.

"No, I don't want to put instacrete in Zeb's bed… at least not right now anyway."

The droid did not take "no" for an answer.

"Look, just go away will ya!?"

Chopper zoomed forward and slammed into the padawan's leg several times before realizing Ezra wasn't reacting. He stopped, spun his dome around so that all of his sensors could see his young master and made a few noises of concern.

"Yeh, I know, I know, it's just… I'm not feeling well, okay?" he was babbling and he knew it, but was unable to control himself, "And… I miss Ahsoka and I don't want to upset Kanan anymore than he already is... I don't… I just… feel so alone," he concluded miserably.

A shadow blocked the light from the passageway.

"You're not alone, Ezra."

The shadow moved to reveal the slight Mandalorian girl with blue tinted hair.

He smiled weakly at her, picked up the holocron and sat back down on the edge of Zeb's bed.

"Hi Sabine, I guess, I uh… fell asleep on the floor there."

"Yeh, that looked real comfortable."

She smirked. He loved how her eyes flashed when she smiled. Her tone was casual, but he could tell she was worried about him.

"It wasn't. What's up?"

He hoped she'd take the hint that he didn't want to talk about what she'd just overheard. Under most other circumstances he'd have leapt at the chance to win Sabine's attention, but he wasn't yet ready to talk about the vision offered by the holocron, not even to her.

Sabine leaned back against the door frame and crossed her slender arms in front of her. She paused ever so slightly before replying. To Ezra's relief she declined to pursue what he had said to the droid in an unguarded moment and instead answered his question without further comment.

"Hera and Commander Sato want to see us."

"A mission?"

"I think so."

"What about Kanan?"

Her smile evaporated.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, do you think he'll be able to even go on missions anymore?"

Sabine looked down, her expression uncertain.

"I don't know, Ezra, if he weren't a Jedi, I'd say no way... but..."

She didn't complete the thought, afraid to offer hope she did not feel.

The doctors and medical robots had examined Kanan as soon as they had returned. The diagnosis had been swift and crushing. Kanan's optic nerve and retinas were burnt out entirely with no hope of recovery. Perhaps the Kaminoan's tissue cloning techniques might have offered hope, but Kamino had suffered the same fate as Geonosis long ago, their mysterious arts lost along with them.

Kanan was blinded for the rest of his life. Ahsoka was dead. Vader and his Inquisitors were now focused entirely on destroying them.

Ezra joined Sabine in staring at the floor.

"You don't blame yourself…" she asked hesitantly, "do you?"

He stood up suddenly to face her, his expression twisted in pain.

"Of course I do! Why wouldn't I? Kanan got hurt because I trusted Maul! Ahsoka had to face Vader to protect me!"

He buried his face in his hands and leaned back against the bulkhead. He wanted to cry but refused. A moment later he felt her hands, small and warm, on each of his shoulders.

"Ezra," she said softly, "listen to me."

He dropped his arms and looked at her.

"Don't do this," she pleaded, "I know what it's like to feel guilty for the deaths of people you love… but I also know that blaming yourself helps no one, not you and not the people who care about you – the people who still need you."

Ezra started. He could see she meant what she said. Her expression was earnest in a way that made her chiseled features appear artless yet strong, an altogether different effect than her usual supremely confident elfin countenance, dominated as it often was by a rakish smirk, calculated nonchalance or, when dealing with Ezra, world weary forbearance.

"You… need me?"

The expression of world weary forbearance slid over her face like a veil.

"I meant _the team_ , Ezra," she corrected in a tone of slight annoyance, though when she saw his reaction her expression softened once again, "Yes, yes I need you… we all need each other… and it won't help us if you punish yourself for something that isn't really your fault."

"But, Sabine," he protested, raising one hand and letting it fall in a gesture of despair, "if it weren't for me none of this would have happened!"

"No, and the Sith thing you found would now be in the hands of the Empire."

This was true. The inquisitor they ran into hadn't been looking for them, but for Maul… and probably the prize that he now possessed.

"Remember you all went to Moriband because of that vision you had at the temple, right?" she pointed out, cocking her head slightly, "Everyone had a choice, including Ahsoka and Kanan. Do you really think they would choose differently now? Would they have let you go alone?"

He considered this a moment and looked down at the floor with a sigh before replying.

"No, they wouldn't, but that doesn't mean what happened wasn't my fault."

She dropped her hands and backed up a few steps.

"People die in war, Ezra, sometimes people close to us."

His head snapped up as if he'd been slapped, his gaze fierce and stepped toward her.

"That's what Rex said, but I don't accept that! What good are these powers if I can't even protect the people I care about?

She was surprised at his sudden intensity, but held her ground.

"You can't be in every battle or stop every blaster bolt, Ezra. More of us will die, you can't stop that. Will you blame yourself for everyone who doesn't make it?"

He looked at her, his countenance stricken.

"No, I won't let you die!" he cried, raising a fist in impotent frustration, "I promise! Kanan got hurt and Ahsoka died because I wasn't powerful enough, not strong enough to protect them! But I will, Sabine, I'll do whatever I have to do to protect you!"

"I know, Ezra," she acknowledged with a slight smile, "and we'll be there for you too, but you have to let us… you can't do it all yourself."

"I get that. I just… I lost my mom and dad… now this…if anything happened to you… I'd just…"

The wayward Jedi struggled, his voice trailing off to nothing. The moment stretched. Sabine opened her mouth to reply, but reconsidered as the sound of metallic footsteps approached.

"Where are you, you overweight glob of grease?" a bored, superior and slightly threatening voice droned from the passageway.

Grateful for the interruption, both humans smiled and rolled their eyes at what they knew was likely about to happen. Chopper and the Ghost's newest crewmember had an amicable, if predictably stormy relationship.

Chopper's dome began spinning wildly, punctuated by a quick series of excited buzzes and clicks. The astromech tried to escape, but the former bounty hunter blocked the exit.

"Uh, uh, Chop," she admonished with an amused grin, "Sounds like you're in trouble."

The padawan put the holocron back in his belt pouch before calling out.

"He's in here."

AP5 appeared in the doorway. Sabine stepped out of the way so the former inventory droid could enter.

"I'm not surprised," he observed drily before turning to address Chopper, "Hiding won't help. These organics can't protect you."

He stepped forward and delivered a swift kick to his friend who bounced off the nearby bulkhead with a satisfying crash.

"That's for erasing my bombing run simulations."

Ezra found AP5's voice slightly nasal, which was surprising given the droid's lack of breathing passages, and possessed of a slightly upper class accent, both of which annoyed the young padawan.

Chopper backed up and started to protest his innocence, gesturing dramatically with his two dome claws.

"You're not funny, you defective rust bucket," AP5 retorted, "and don't give me that "what, little old me?" routine either. You might fool these ridiculous organics, but you can't fool me."

Ezra and Sabine both made faces.

"Do you really have to call us "organics?"

The tactical droid turned to the young Mandalorian with his huge, baleful eye sensors.

"Would you prefer "meatbags", mistress?"

Sabine folded her arms across her chest once more, clearly displeased.

"No, I wouldn't."

"That's a shame, I do."

"Well," she retorted, her hands dropping suggestively to the handles of her twin pistols, "I prefer using arrogant clankers for target practice."

"Now, now, mistress," the droid replied in a patronizing tone and holding up his hands in a gesture of surrender, "there is no need to resort to violence and "clankers" is an offensive term for droids that served the Separatists. I can assure you, mistress, I served only the Republic."

Chopper chirped and buzzed in agreement.

Sabine rolled her eyes once more in response.

"Oh yeh," a familiar voice injected from the hallway, "no need for violence, eh? But it's all right for you to abuse old Chopper here, not that the rest of us mind that too much and fantasize about dropping bombs on unsuspecting bucket heads, is that it?"

AP5 turned to see the purple skinned lasat enter the bunk room.

"Do you have a problem with dropping bombs on unsuspecting bucket heads, master Garazeb?"

Zeb cupped his chin in the palm of his hand.

"Well, now that ya mention it, I don't, but unless you want Sabine here to straighten you out with her blasters you might wanna fix yer attitude problem."

Sabine smirked.

The protocol droid looked quickly back and forth between Zeb and the slight Mando. He noted her self-satisfied expression before replying.

"I see your point, master."

He turned back to his counterpart.

"All right, Chopper, move! You're going to put back what you erased or I'm going to deactivate you."

The astromech emitted chirps that sounded distinctly like laughter before he rocketed past Zeb and down the hallway.

AP5 sighed.

"I don't know why you didn't melt him down long ago."

"Yeh, we don't either," Zeb replied with a laugh as the clerical droid followed the retreating form of his friend.

He turned back to his crewmates.

"Hera says we need to go to the operations center."

Ezra nodded.

"Okay, let's go."


	3. The Mission

**Chapter III: The Mission**

Sato, Hera, Kanan and Rex stood around the operations campaign console. Their conversation halted as Ezra and the others entered. The captain of the _Ghost_ turned to the newcomers and put her hands on her hips.

"Nice of you all to show up," she greeted archly, "Did we interrupt a game of sabacc or something?"

Zeb grimaced.

"I'm off sabacc, Hera, you know that."

"Yeh," Kanan scoffed, "At least until Lando shows up again."

"Think I'll pass on that, Kanan."

"Sabacc? Or Lando?" the Jedi quipped.

"Both."

"Next time you bet Chopper," Ezra inserted, "Make sure you lose him permanently, okay?"

Hera scowled at the young Jedi, though privately she was happy enough that he'd make a joke. The boy had been understandably angry and despondent since he had returned from Moraband. Everyone had reacted differently to the losses suffered on that forsaken world, Ezra just wore his emotions on his sleeve more than the others. Sabine had retreated to her room and immersed herself in her art. Zeb had spent hours polishing his already well cared for weapon and Kanan had brooded in silence and solitude. Of all of them Rex seemed least affected, a fact which Ezra had held against the clone warrior, but Hera knew this outward show of acceptance to be false. A professional soldier's iron discipline and the regard in which he held the fallen Jedi prevented him from showing it, but inside she knew he bled the most.

The twi'lek pushed these melancholy psychological observations from her mind.

"All right, if you're all done now, maybe we can get on with the briefing?"

Sato began and all turned their attention to him.

"One of the greatest problems we face in putting together a larger rebellion is that we can't monitor the Empire's coded communications directly. Up until now we've had to rely on spies and sympathizers for our intelligence. That may be about to change."

The stern fleet captain leaned forward and pressed a button on the side of the planning module. A planetary system instantly sprang to life above the table's projector. Seven worlds orbited a single main sequence star. An inset floated above the image that showed the system's location between the middle and outer rims.

"This is the Acheron system, not a habitable planet in the bunch. Mostly gas giants. The fourth body is rocky though and has an automated lithium cracking station. That's it."

"Wonderful," the lasat observed, crossing his arms, "what's the big deal there?"

"Don't worry, you're not going there," Sato replied, pressing another button. The image shrank so that the entire system looked like an atom, a nucleus surrounded by a cloud of electrons. Outside the Acheron system a red symbol blinked.

"This is the target, just outside the Acheron system's heliosphere, but still gravitationally anchored by its primary."

The image closed in on the red symbol which grew rapidly into a sinister, floating monstrosity of metal, disk arrays and gun emplacements.

Hera squinted at it.

"An imperial relay station?"

"Yes, Captain," Sato confirmed, "We have just received intelligence that the Empire will shortly deploy a new encryption system throughout the Outer Rim Territories. This station will be one of the first to receive one of the new encryption devices and will serve as the principal transmission hub for the western reach of the Outer Rim. We've already hit a few targets in this sector, so attacking this station shouldn't be seen as anything out of the ordinary."

"Right," Sabine interjected with a grin, "so instead of just blowing this thing up, we steal the tech beforehand, right?"

"Exactly," Sato agreed with a curt nod, "If this operation succeeds the Empire will assume the device was destroyed with the station. Then, if we can operate the device, we will finally be able to monitor imperial communications with impunity."

"There was a couple more "if's" in there for my comfort," Zeb muttered, scratching his neck with one hand.

"Do we have a layout?" Sabine asked, ignoring her crewmate's predictable recalcitrance.

Sato pressed another button. The exterior of the base winked out, replaced instantly by a three dimensional model of the facility.

"It's incomplete," he offered, noting several sections that were black, "and it's old. We got this schematic almost a year ago from an informant who since defected, so this is the best information we have."

"Who's the informant?" Hera asked hopefully, "Can we talk to him?"

Sato shook his head.

"Her – and no, she died during the Siege of Lothal."

"Sounds like Minister Tua, it wasn't her was it?" Zeb asked.

"No," Sato replied, "she died before she could give us anything useful. Just like Tua, though, this informant is dead and can no longer help us."

"Well, so much for that idea," Zeb offered, then after receiving a glare from Hera raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, "but it was a good shot though!"

Sabine pointed at a large open area in the middle of the largest dome.

"This is the communications center?"

"We think so, yes, but we're not sure."

"Looks huge, what's the crew compliment?"

Sato opened his mouth to reply, but was preempted by a slightly nasal, metallic voice.

"1,127, mistress, comprised of 63 officers, 822 enlisted and the rest civilian contractors."

The group turned to see AP5 and Chopper coming towards them from the secondary hatch.

"How do you know that?"

"My freighter supplied five relay stations in the Lothal sector and they are all identical."

"Do you have station layouts in your memory?" Sato injected hopefully.

"No, Commander," Chopper's self-anointed counterpart sniffed petulantly, "I'm a tactical droid, not an engineer."

"Even if we had good maps, that's a lot of imperials to handle," Hera observed, her brow creased in concentration.

"I don't think we need to take them all on," Kanan offered somewhat reluctantly, "If we can get in there without attracting too much attention and take the communications center, we can do what we did on Nerva Beacon."

Hera nodded once, rubbing her chin. A few months before they had successfully infiltrated Nerva Beacon, an imperial installation orbiting the old Confederate capital of Raxus. They had destroyed it after they'd used the station's public announcement system to declare that the station would self-destruct. The station personnel had quickly exited using the escape pods, dramatically reducing the resistance the rebels would otherwise have faced.

"Could work," the twi'lek admitted.

"We?" Rex questioned with a smile Kanan felt, but could not see, "You up for that kind of fight?"

"Of course he can fight, Rex! What kind of question is that?" Ezra injected, instantly jumping to his master's defense, "He's as good as he ever was – better even!"

Kanan paused before replying. The words of the Grand Inquisitor, the former Jedi temple guard, rang clear in his mind.

" _Try to fight, and you will fail, the rebellion will be destroyed, you will die and your apprentice will become a servant of evil."_

He had passed the test in the temple, would he pass in the waking world? He didn't know. What he did know was that his resolve to protect his friends – to protect his young padawan – had not diminished. What was he to do? Stay on Atollon and meditate? Moping in a well of self-pity while his friends risked their lives to restore the Republic? He recoiled instantly at the shameful thought.

"Yes," the blind Jedi replied, straightening slightly, "I can still fight."

Rex smiled in relief and raised a fist in solidarity.

"That's the spirit, sir!"

Rex winked once at the padawan and nodded in agreement.

Ezra dropped his gaze and stared at his feet, slightly ashamed that he had doubted Rex's opinion of his master.

"How long until the station gets the device?" the captain of the _Ghost_ continued, her countenance sharp and appraising.

"We don't know for sure," Sato replied, "Deployment was delayed for reasons that were not specified, but it shouldn't be more than a few weeks."

"But, how are we going to get on the station?" Ezra asked, clearly unhappy with the entire idea.

"Yeh," Zeb chimed in, no more pleased than Ezra, "Is this gonna be a stand up fight, Commander? Or another stealth job?"

Ezra turned and with an annoyed expression replied, "Come on, Zeb, how are we supposed to get this coder thing if we go in with the entire Phoenix Squadron? They'll wreck it and anything else we'd want before we busted our way in."

"Well excuse me!" the lasat retorted, "I'm just a little tired of sneakin' around and always getting caught when things fall apart," the young Jedi opened his mouth to contradict, but his bunkmate cut him off, "And it _always_ does! Don't gimme any bantha pudu about it!"

"Tired or not, Zeb, we have to go in quietly," Hera injected calmly, "They'll send a distress signal at the first sign of rebel ships."

Rex nodded once in agreement, "That's right, Captain, and there's no way we can jam the signal either, their transmitters are way too powerful."

"So, to Ezra's point, how do we get on the station?" the young Mandalorian injected before turning to the elder Jedi, "Do we need to steal another imperial shuttle?"

"What do you think, Kanan?" Hera inquired, biting her lip.

"That might work, but…"

Kanan's voice trailed off, a sure indication of his discomfort.

"But what?"

"But..." Sabine supplied, picking up Kanan's train of thought, "…an unexpected visit of any kind is going to attract attention, right?"

"Exactly," Kanan agreed, "that's the problem. We need a way in that won't raise any suspicion."

"Like that ever works," the lasat scoffed.

"Stop being such a slamo, Zeb, we've gotten into plenty of places undetected!" Ezra replied hotly.

"Oh yeh, like where?"

The padawan stuttered for a moment before summoning up a few examples, "Like when we broke into Stygeon Prime, or when I infiltrated the Imperial Academy on Lothal, or how about when Kanan and Rex came to rescue me and Commander Sato on that crazy experimental imperial destroyer!"

"Heh, yeh kid, but we did we get _out_ undetected in _any_ of those situations, mmm?"

"Well, uh…"

Zeb folded his arms across his chest as Ezra's voice dwindled into silence.

"Right," the purple warrior concluded gruffly, "Get the point? We just don't have a great track record with this kind of thing."

"Well we're alive and we manage to get the job done," Sabine injected much to Ezra's relief, "So what's your point, Zeb? Don't take the mission?" She jerked her head in Sato's direction, "Didn't you hear the Commander? The Alliance _needs_ this tech."

Zeb blew out a breath, "Yeh, I know, I'm just complainin' is all. I'm all in and you know it."

Sabine's frown turned to a smile.

"You better be," she turned to Hera and continued, "We not just use the _Ghost_? We can mask our signal. That usually works."

Hera shook her head.

"The _Ghost_ is too well known in this sector now. I think there's a good chance they'll recognize us on sight no matter what registration we broadcast."

"If I may make a suggestion, Captain?" AP5 drawled, raising a metal finger in the air.

Zeb huffed, "We're not really interested in yer opinion, you rust bucket."

"May I remind you, Master Garazeb," the droid replied in full lecture mode, "I _am_ a tactical droid. Planning such operations was my function during the Clone War."

"Clone War's over," the lasat with a dismissive wave of his hand, then turning to Rex continued, "and if I remember right, the _clones_ did most of the planning and almost all of the fighting."

"Well, that's true," Rex acknowledged with a dip of his head, "but during the war we'd take help from anyone in a jam – even tac droids," He turned to AP5, "So what's the idea?"

"Why not target an imperial cargo vessel for capture? Such a vessel would also provide ample room to hide a strike team. As long as we broadcast an accepted registration number it is unlikely that the station would even bother with a pre-approach scan."

"That's… actually a good idea," Kanan observed, "but if they aren't expecting a delivery it would still raise some alarm."

"Yes, Master Kanan, that is why I recommend we obtain a copy of the local imperial shipping schedule. Then we can target the next vessel in the schedule that is assigned to call on the Acheron station. The strike team could then enter the station on schedule without attracting any unnecessary attention."

"All right, AP5," Hera said in an approving tone, "How do we get a copy of the schedule?"

"The Acheron station is most often supplied from the bases located on the middle rim worlds of Richess and Calufrax and the outer rim worlds of Lothal and Garel. There are others, but these accounted for 77.3 percent of the deliveries in the last six months of my service with the Empire. Any one of these would have copies of the shipping schedule."

"And they'll just hand it over to us?" Zeb inquired, his voice dripping sarcasm.

AP5 continued unperturbed, "It is not public information, but it is not heavily guarded either as the cargo sent from these bases is mostly basic materials. Sensitive cargo, such as the encoder apparatus we are tasked with appropriating, would almost certainly come directly from either Coruscant or one of the major imperial installations on Scarif or Raxus. These too would have copies of the schedule, but I would not recommend attempting to infiltrate any of those."

Zeb snorted at the droid's completely unnecessary advice.

Ezra, who had listened intently with one hand on his chin, looked at AP5 then to Hera and Sabine, an expression of grim determination on his face.

"Lothal, huh?"

* * *

 _A/N: I have another ten chapters written. I wanted to finish the story before I published any more, but since it's been such a long time I thought I'd do an update just to show this isn't dead :) And yes, Ahsoka is coming - she appears in chapter 5._


	4. The Clone Warrior

**Chapter IV: The Clone Warrior**

The planning session had ended with general acceptance of AP5's suggestion. They had broken up to prepare for the first stage of the mission, acquiring the shipping schedule from the imperial port facility on Lothal.

Ezra hadn't felt like helping. Vader had destroyed his light saber on Moraband, but he had managed to save his force crystal. Still, it would take time to build a new one. For now, a blaster hung at his hip and that was all he needed. He just wanted to get in the _Ghost_ and go.

He knew the rebellion needed this mission to succeed, but that was not the source of the urgency he felt, the tightness in his chest. He was self-aware enough to know that he wanted to lash out, to punish those he held responsible for Kanan's injury and Ahsoka's death. He knew he wanted revenge… and he knew it was wrong. He had felt his master's blind eyes on him as he left the conference room, an expression of concern on his face. Did Kanan suspect the inner turmoil that consumed him?

The words of the nameless Sith's holocron echoed in his thoughts.

" _You have anger, you have hate and you will use them… whether you want to or not…"_

Was it true? Had the dark side claimed him already? Fear and doubt gnawed at his innards, dark feelings permeated by a broad desire to strike back at something, anything.

Despite all the time he had spent asleep since his return, none of it had been peaceful. He was exhausted.

Ezra wandered the complex aimlessly for some time before arriving at the main hangar bay. The shield doors were open and the afternoon sun streamed in. The natural light felt good. He walked outside, intending to find a convenient supply crate to sit on. The _Ghost_ was parked a few hundred feet away.

He spied a few likely candidates and walked over only to see Rex sitting on one of them. He was servicing his rifle, a relic of the Clone War just as he, with a practiced hand. The padawan stopped, uncertain whether his approach had been spotted or not. He was about to turn away when Rex looked up.

"Hi Ezra," the veteran greeted, waving him over.

"Hi."

Ezra hadn't spoken much to the aging warrior since he had returned from Moraband. He had been angry at Rex's stoic acceptance of Ahsoka's fate. In truth, he knew he was still angry and that Rex knew it as well.

The memory of their return surfaced unbidden in his mind.

 _The crew of the Ghost stood frozen, their mouths hanging open in shock until Hera lurched forward and embraced Kanan, huge tears sliding down her smooth, green cheeks._

 _Kanan described the events on Moraband in a terse, bitter voice. He concluded with the loss of his eyesight in his fight against Maul and their deliverance from Darth Vader by Ahsoka. Neither of them had seen her die, but in all likelihood she was dead, either from the explosion or at the hands of the terrifying Sith lord._

 _The clone warrior stiffened as the story reached its end. His eyes shimmered, but no tears fell._

" _She died well then," he said after a few moments._

 _Ezra's head jerked up, his eyes blazing._

" _Is that all you can say? You're just going to accept it?"_

 _Rex looked on the boy with sympathy._

" _There's no other choice, Ezra."_

" _That's it? Really? Really!? She was your friend! Didn't her life mean anything to you!?"_

" _Ezra!" Sabine injected in horror, but he ignored her._

" _It's all right," the clone replied calmly in the face of Sabine's shocked expression, then turning to address Ezra continued, "She was my friend, young Jedi… and much more. She fought with me in a war where my brothers fought and died by the millions," he looked away then, his expression distant and continued, "She stood with us shoulder to shoulder, day after day, battle after battle, with death tugging at our elbows."_

 _The boy shook with emotion he could barely process._

" _But, but… how can you just…_ accept _it like that? I don't accept this! I'll never accept it! It isn't fair! Vader murdered her! We should have_ done _something! I should have done something!" he cried, burying his face in his hands._

 _The young Jedi felt the Rex's hand on his shoulder._

" _People die in war, kid, good people…" he paused briefly before continuing, his grizzled features taut, his countenance circumspect, "that's why wars are no good, no matter how just the cause may be."_

 _Ezra's body tensed before he thrust the hand away and left his friends to deal with the loss on their own._

Rex put his weapon down on the crate and looked up at his visitor. He could see the accusation in the boy's eyes.

"You don't think I grieve for Ahsoka, is that it?" he began directly.

"Doesn't seem like it to me, no," the young Jedi replied, crossing his arms defensively across his chest.

Rex smiled wanly.

"I do, Ezra, more than you could possibly know."

"Then why are you smiling?" the younger man scoffed.

Rex looked away, his eyes sweeping the beautiful panorama before them and blew out a breath.

"Because, as badly as it hurts, the truth is I'm lucky I ever knew her at all… her and General Skywalker… to have shared this beautiful, terrible life with them."

Ezra looked down, considering what the clone warrior said with a doubtful expression.

"And you know, ever since the war ended, I've wondered… if I'd had a choice, or if I could go back now, would I choose a different path? If I could have had a peaceful life on some backwater planet far away from the war, would I have traded my friends for that?"

He looked back to the boy, his look suddenly intense and shook his head emphatically.

"No! Never, young master, not for any price! If I've lost so much… it's only because I had so much to begin with!"

The clone warrior's look softened as he concluded.

"Besides, Ezra, I can't help but think, maybe…" here he laughed softly and looked up once more to the setting sun, "just maybe… she's still alive out there somewhere."

A moment of silence stretched between them before the young Jedi replied.

"That's a pipe dream, Rex. You weren't there. You didn't see what we saw… You didn't see Vader…"

"You're right, I didn't," the clone warrior admitted, "but I did see Ahsoka and General Skywalker get out of a hundred death traps that would have killed anyone else – even Jedi Masters."

"Hoping she's alive won't make it true," Ezra contradicted flatly, "Aren't you supposed to be the realist here? The veteran who's seen it all? Why are you lying to yourself, Rex? Why are you lying to me?"

Rex's countenance fell at this, his features hardening. He stood up and put his hands on his hips.

"I _am_ a realist, kid, and while I don't think anyone has ever seen it all, I've sure seen a lot in my time – a lot more than you – and I hope you never see some of the things I have. All I'm saying is you didn't actually see her body did you?"

Ezra looked at the ground, suddenly ashamed but uncertain why.

"Did you?" the clone repeated.

"No."

"Then you don't know she's dead, kid. You're _assuming_ she's dead."

The young Jedi ran his hand through his hair.

"Yes, but… you don't know Vader… the Sith have _power_ , Rex, power you can't imagine…"

"Oh, can't I? Darth Vader isn't the first Sith to curse the galaxy, you know."

Ezra raised his head to meet the older man's gaze.

"You've… faced the Sith before?"

The older man crossed his arms and cocked his head slightly.

"Well, not directly," he admitted, "but I have seen Sith in action many times."

Rex observed the boy's skeptical expression and continued.

"Didn't you know the Sith fought in the Clone War, just like the Jedi?"

"What? No way! You mean… Vader fought in the Clone War?"

"No, he appeared after."

"The Emperor then? Did the Emperor ever fight?"

"Back then he was called the Chancellor," the clone replied with more than a trace of bitterness, scratching his chin, "And no, I don't think he ever did. He was too smart for that."

"Then who?"

Rex laughed and shook his head in an expression of disbelief.

"Well, I guess nobody teaches history these days. Time was everyone knew their names – and was afraid of them. You've never heard of Count Dooku then, have you?"

Ezra looked slightly abashed.

"I think I've heard that name… somewhere."

"Well, of course you have!" the clone admonished with mock severity, "Count Dooku was the leader of the Separatists and a powerful Sith Lord. Then there was his apprentice, a Dathomirian woman named Asajj Ventress who, I was told, was a witch and a very deadly assassin."

The young Jedi's fist clenched and his countenance hardened. The words of the Sith holocron rang once more in his head. He tried to ignore it, but failed.

" _Find a teacher…"_

He swallowed hard, the questions spilling from his mouth like vomit, rancid and acidic.

"What happened to them? Are they alive?"

"Good heavens, no, or at least Count Dooku certainly isn't. General Skywalker killed him at the Battle of Coruscant near the end of the war."

Ezra sat down heavily on the crate.

"I wish he were here."

"General Skywalker?" the clone sighed in agreement, "Me too, kid, I'd give my right arm and both my blasters to see him alive again, but he's gone. So is Commander Tano, at least for the time being. For now, it's just you and me."

Ezra sighed.

" _Now_ you're the realist."

The clone smiled.

"Yep."

"I just… I miss Ahsoka."

He intended to say more, but his mouth clicked shut.

 _She always seemed to know what to do… like Master Yoda… will I ever speak to him again?_

Fear gripped his heart in a cold vice.

 _I can't! He'll know what I've done!_

A pained look passed over Rex's face as he reflected on the boy's grief.

"I do too, Ezra… more than you'll ever know," he laid his rifle gently across his lap and continued, "I know what I said when you first came back, but… she wasn't just a fellow soldier or comrade to me… if I… if I could have chosen a little sister, it would have been her. I always thought she'd outlive me… ships and stars, I hoped she'd outlive me…"

The padawan could see the pain in the elder warrior's eyes. Once again tears welled, but Rex's iron discipline would not allow them to be shed. Surely that pain had been there when he'd so stoically accepted her death when they had first returned. Why hadn't he seen it before?

The young Jedi looked down in shame at the metal floor of the landing bay.

"I'm sorry, Rex. I know you cared about her too, I just… I just didn't understand your reaction, I guess."

The clone warrior looked on the younger man with sympathy.

"That's all right, Ezra. You've been through a lot. More than anyone should in a lifetime, let alone someone your age. I know you don't want to lose anyone else."

The boy looked up to see understanding in the older man's eyes.

"Thanks, Rex… and you're right, I don't want to lose anyone ever again!" he put his hands on the clone warrior's shoulder, "Including you! And I'm going to get stronger so I can protect you all. I promise!"

Rex smiled.

"That's the spirit."

"Guess I'd better go help get us ready to head back to Lothal."

Kanan's apprentice dropped his hand, turned and began walking back into the hanger. The older man watched as Ezra turned sharply to address his friend once more, his expression earnest.

"You know, I wish… I wish I'd been there with you… with her… I'd have been proud to fight alongside you both… for the Republic."

Rex smiled broadly this time, his chest swelling with pride. He strode forward and put his both hands on the young Jedi's shoulders.

"We _are_ fighting for the Republic, Ezra, right now, you and me. As long as we live, the Republic will never die. Don't forget that."

Ezra smiled weakly, suddenly finding himself hoping something was true, but terrified in his heart that it wasn't. He nodded once and retreated the way he had come.


	5. Padawan Lost

**Chapter V: Padawan Lost**

Ahsoka leaned back in the pilot's seat of her stolen TIE fighter, the remains of the ship's emergency medical kit scattered across the flight deck.

How long had she lain broken and bleeding at the bottom of the chasm before her consciousness had stirred? How long had it taken her to emerge, barely clinging to life and force herself to mount the ruins of the temple and search for the means of her escape? She didn't know.

The pain, which had come in jagged streaks of white lightning across her thigh and lower back as she had dragged herself across the barren landscape of Moraband, had finally receded to a dull roar, banished to the edge of her consciousness by a raft of looted painkillers. Her wasted lips had cracked and bled the moment she had taken water from the ship's stores, followed quickly by spasms of retching from a stomach long since shrunken with disuse.

She was dying and she knew it, but the realization meant nothing. The agony of her body served only to heighten the feverish hysteria that convulsed her consciousness. Her mind reeled endlessly back and forth over the events that had transpired at the dreaded Sith temple. Jedi training and years of discipline had seemingly vanished in the face of the traumatic revelation.

 _He_ was alive.

She had faced him. Her master. Her best friend. A reunion that in all her fantasies had been uniformly joyful had in reality proven the most terrifying and terrible experience of her life.

Worst of all, she had faced the unforgiving and unforgivable truth that Anakin Skywalker _was_ Darth Vader.

 _Oh, master! Master! Anakin… please! Don't let this be! Anything, anything but this!_

Her broken mind had repeated these anguished cries in an endless, bottomless death spiral. The physical pain, she understood, was a mercy in this insane circumstance. Only the blackouts driven by her body's weakening struggle against her wounds provided any relief. She had found herself praying for the pain and injuries to take her so she could at last escape the memories that tortured her fevered mind.

Each waking moment brought her back to the windswept altar of evil where she had revealed the face of the dark lord himself, to that awful, sickening instance when reality itself had broken and she had felt his presence through the Force, the moment she knew she would do anything and everything to save her best friend… and then minutes later, when she had proven it.

Her old world, her old life, had ended. She wept as much for this, she knew, as for her master. The events on Moraband cycled endlessly over and over in her mind, the devastating revelation, the duel where she betrayed her beliefs and the final descent into oblivion.

Suddenly the console in front of her beeped and two of the small screens blinked rapidly as they displayed line after line of code. She had no memory of initiating the startup sequence. Time seemed to skip and the barest moment later the hum of the engines around her and the dashboard instruments indicated the ship was ready for takeoff.

She looked up at the controls on the console suspended over her head, her mind lost in an opiate induced fog.

 _Foils… foils… must put them in launch position…_

Her powerfully trained mind tried to focus, forcing her left hand upward. Her right arm was useless, broken in two places. The orange limb rose far enough for her to see the cauterized hole where Darth Vader's saber had cut it clean through. Her hand wavered. The pain, which had blissfully receded after her orgy of injections, flooded back upon her. She gritted her teeth in agony, feeling a gout of warm blood escaping between them and dropped her hand.

Her breathing now came in heavy, ragged gasps. The painkillers could do nothing to heal the internal injuries that would no doubt soon kill her.

Ahsoka looked up to try again and caught sight of her reflection on the bright, polished surface of the darkened communication display. Gone was the athletic, confident ex Jedi she had always seen in the mirror. In her place was a skeletal, haunted creature with blood, dried and fresh, spattered all over her face, mouth and neck. Her beautifully patterned lekku had been perforated in many places, an unsightly, nauseating mess that wept blood, puss and the chitinous tissue of which it was made.

She barely saw any of these things. The glimpse of herself in the display shocked and terrified her beyond anything she had seen since arriving on this cursed world.

 _My eyes!_

The eyes that had stared back at her had been hard, alien, pools of the palest blue surrounded by a ring of angry, reptilian yellow.

The universe spun once again. A sharp intake of breath at the sight of her reflection brought another spasm of rapidly escalating pain. She tried to release the breath, but the sensation only worsened as she let it out in brief, staccato bursts.

 _Don't let fear control you! Only by mastering your fear will you be able to help others!_

There it was again, the voice in her mind, giving her advice, coming to her in times of need. _His_ voice. She bit her bloody lip. How many times had her master told her that when she was his padawan? More times than she could count. Resolution sprung up within her.

 _I won't let you down again, Master! I'll make this right! I promise!_

Her head snapped back up as soon as the pain in her chest ebbed. A pair of deep blue orbs sparkled in the reflection. Her panic receded. Her breathing resumed its heavy, ragged gasps.

Had it been a trick? The momentary hallucination of a confused and unbalanced mind? She knew it reflected the deep seated fear that had settled in her breast like a cancer after her duel with Anakin on Moraband. She had betrayed his teachings, betrayed the light, betrayed herself… and his words… Vader's words… echoed in her head…

" _Indeed, you are no Jedi. Your hate has made you powerful."_

" _Kill me then, Anakin," she had begged, still gasping for breath, "please… let me die a Jedi… even if I was never one in life."_

Tears welled once more, but Ahsoka ruthlessly suppressed both them and the shame she felt at her betrayal. Forcing these feelings aside, she raised her left hand and calmly flipped the switches that set the foils in proper position. She exhaled as she heard the metal extensions unfolding on each side of the craft.

Moments later the ship was bursting through the upper atmosphere. The acceleration put pressure on her wounds, intensifying the pain. She grimaced and bore it. Mercifully, she blacked out once again. Sometime later she woke to find the ship escaping the planet's gravity well. The drugs still drowned out the pain, but her mind was a bit clearer than before.

She entered the coordinates for Atollon into the navicomputer.

" _Whose TIE was this?"_ she wondered idly. It must have been either Seventh Sister's or Fifth Brother's. She knew she should search for a homing beacon or other security devices before making the jump for the rebel base, but she didn't have the strength.

Moments later the ship was at light speed.

Her breath now came in shallow, broken rasps. Dimly she was aware that somehow she had ended up on the flight deck, her broken leg splayed beneath her body, bent where she knew there was no joint. At this final point her thoughts became lucid and strangely disconnected from her smashed physical form.

 _Is this it, then? Will I die here?_

 _If I live… what will I tell them? What can I tell them?_

Her mind flashed to Rex, her best friend besides Anakin, her trusted and loyal compatriot. In her mind's eye he always appeared as he did when she first met him, young and strong with clear eyes that spoke of a true heart.

 _Rex! Help me! Please! What should I do!? Can I tell you this? Burden you with this terrible truth, as I am? Can I… can I destroy Anakin in your heart forever?_

She knew she could not.

Mercifully her awareness of her surroundings receded once more as memories from her life began to drift through her mind in slow motion. Master Plo finding her on Shili, the beautiful yellow and orange grasslands of her people waving in the morning sun. She had looked up to see a beautiful silver craft descending and screamed in delight, _"Look mummy! There's a spaceship up in the sky!"_ She remembered the joy of discovering her Force crystal on Ilum with Master Yoda and building her first light saber. The terror that had gripped her when her meditation class had been interrupted by a temple guard to announce that the Clone War had begun. Meeting her master for the first time, the legendary Anakin Skywalker, and his master, General Kenobi, at the Battle of Christophsis.

Inside she smiled at this last memory. She treasured it. "Skyguy" hadn't been pleased to learn that he'd been assigned an apprentice, a fact that provided Obi Wan an enormous amount of amusement. By the end of that mission she knew that she had found the best master for her, perhaps the only master she would accept.

 _He didn't want me… but… he needed me..._

The deep seated certainty of this belief comforted her more than any other.

Her mind continued to wander over her life. The landing at Point Rain during the Second Battle of Geonosis. The hunt for the _Malevolence_. The Ryloth campaign and the lessons she learned there from her master. Saving his life on Cato Neimoidia.

 _The war was so awful… but we were so happy… I was so happy… what happened? What happened to us? What happened to you, Anakin? How did it end this way?_

She had been so confident they would win the war. Dooku would be brought to justice and somehow, someway, good people like Padme Amidala, Bail Organa and Riyo Chuchi would address the legitimate grievances of decent Separatists like Mina and Lux Bonteri. The Republic would be restored. She would become the Jedi she had always wanted to be and would serve in peace and happiness where she belonged, alongside Anakin Skywalker, her friend and master.

Her memories shifted away from these happy fantasies to the bombing of the Temple. The betrayal of her friend, Bariss Offee. Her strange arrangement with the Sith war criminal, Asajj Ventress. The bitter, rigged trials that destroyed her faith in both the Jedi Order and the Republic. Her last meeting with Anakin as she remembered him, her desperate plea to let her help him rescue the man she later came to hate more than anyone else in the galaxy. The man who had proclaimed himself Emperor, replaced the Republic with a vile slave state, murdered her friends and above all… taken Anakin away from her and turned him into Darth Vader.

She found herself screaming in her own mind.

 _But, but… there is no Vader! It's Anakin! Anakin Skywalker! I won't give up on you, master! I won't! Not ever!_

The events on Moraband came flooding back to her. She quailed internally at arriving once again at these dreadful, sickening memories. She'd cycled through them countless times, but still she could not stop them.

 _She watched as the dark lord towered over Ezra._

" _I don't fear you!" the boy screamed._

 _The monster spoke, his voice deep and threatening._

" _Then you will die braver than most."_

 _Vader and Ezra traded but two blows before the young Jedi's light saber was smashed to pieces. The boy fell to the ground and cringed in fear._

" _Perhaps I was wrong."_

 _The Sith raised his fiery lightsaber to strike, but she interrupted._

" _It wouldn't be the first time."_

 _He turned to face her. The mask completely concealed the face of the creature inside. It was hideous, soulless and sinister. The dark side of the Force swirled around the black monster in thick, inky curls. The eerie whisper of the dark lord's breath completed the visage of evil._

" _It was foretold that you would be here," the black foe began, "Our long-awaited meeting has come at last."_

 _She shivered slightly at this, her body rapidly divining what her conscious mind still refused to accept._

" _I'm glad I gave you something to look forward to," she taunted._

" _We need not be adversaries," he countered in a neutral tone, "The Emperor will show you mercy if you tell me where the remaining Jedi can be found."_

" _There are no Jedi," she contradicted bitterly, "You and your Inquisitors have seen to that."_

 _The Sith ignored her response and turned back to Ezra._

" _Perhaps this child will confess what you will not."_

 _Unable to control herself, she revealed her deepest fear and greatest hope all at once, the words tumbling out in a swift torrent._

" _I was beginning to believe I knew who you were behind that mask, but it's impossible. My master could never be as vile as you!"_

 _Vader pivoted sharply to face her, his voice dripping contempt._

" _Anakin Skywalker was weak. I destroyed him."_

 _Her heart quailed with a strange, alien combination of anger and relief. Had this monster killed her master? Was it that simple?_

" _Then I will avenge his death," she vowed, her eyes flashing._

" _Revenge is not the Jedi way," her opponent replied softly._

 _Something in the dark lord's tone tugged at the edge of her consciousness. A trace of disapproval? Disappointment? She couldn't tell. Warning bells rang loudly in her head, but she ignored them. All she knew for certain was her retort._

" _I am_ no _Jedi."_

 _She drew her brilliant white lightsabers, fully committed to defending Ezra and destroying the monster that threatened him. Vader activated his own weapon in response, casting his form in a hellish pink aura. The distance closed between them as if by its own accord. They fought fiercely, their bodies lit in rapidly alternating hues of red and white. Hate and anger poured forth from her opponent, threatening to overwhelm her while the wind, charged with raw energy from the imploding altar, whipped around them._

 _Forced outside the pyramid, Vader threw her off the parapet. When she returned to the summit she found Kanan and Ezra desperately holding onto the Sith holocron as Vader used the Force to pull it from them. Leaning forward, her white lightsabers trailing behind her, she rushed headlong at the enemy._

 _The dark lord spun to face her just as she launched herself at him. He fended off one blow, but her offhand saber sliced open his mask as she vaulted over his head. She landed on both feet and looked up to see Ezra and Kanan, hands outstretched to her, as if at the end of a tunnel in some heady dream, beckoning urgently from the outside of the now rapidly closing pyramid wall._

" _Ahsoka!" the boy called, "Come on, hurry!"_

 _Her legs tensed as she prepared to run to her friends, but a single word from the wounded monster behind her turned them to stone._

" _Ahsoka."_

 _Her eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat. Gone was the deep, mechanically altered speech of Darth Vader. This voice was different, distorted, but still heart achingly familiar._

 _She turned away from her new friends for the last time. Behind her the dark lord turned his head to meet her gaze. There a baleful yellow eye gleamed, exposed through the cut she had made in the hideous mask._

" _Ahsoka," he repeated, louder this time._

 _She stood frozen in shock. The moment this familiar voice said her name she felt a ripple through the Force as unique as a signature. Recognition exploded in her mind and reality itself twisted sickeningly on its axis. The ground beneath her pitched and swayed drunkenly. Whether it was the impending destruction of the temple or the shock of her realization, she did not know. The truth, the black, hideous monster that appeared unbidden now before her, was undeniable._

 _Anakin Skywalker_ _was_ _Darth Vader._

 _She heard screaming high on the wind only to realize it was in her mind._

 _Please, no! Not this! Anything but this!_

 _She raised her eyes to regard her former master. Tears shimmered but did not fall._

 _"Anakin…" she breathed._

The memory dissolved. Dimly she realized she had repeated his name aloud.

Her mind returned to the present just enough to register that the ship had emerged from light speed. The wild motion of the stars outside indicated that the craft was spinning out of control.

She knew she couldn't do a thing about it.

Her consciousness faded with her memory and as she descended into oblivion she took with her Darth Vader's final command…

 _"Take your place with me and together we can achieve what we always wanted – to restore peace and freedom to the galaxy!"_


End file.
